She stared at the place where my shadows touched her skin. “How do you stay so calm when I’m one wrong breath away from freaking out?”
“Because I don’t see a dangerous power when I look at you, Isolde.” I let the shadows retreat slowly. “I see someone who’s been hurting herself for years trying to be something she’s not.”
Before she could respond, a second rift began to tear open the door to her suite. It was larger than the one the night before, with thicker black smoke pouring through the jagged edges. The pull toward the gate beneath The Abyss was stronger, more insistent.
Isolde shot to her feet, her aura flaring wildly. “Kastiel?—”
“Stay behind me,” I ordered, already moving.
Shadows erupted from my hands in thick ropes, slamming into the rift to contain the breach. But this one fought back harder, the smoke twisting like living tendrils trying to force their way deeper into the hotel.
Isolde didn’t stay behind me.
She stepped up beside me, her hands trembling but a determined tilt to her chin. “Tell me what to do. I want to help.”
I glanced at her and saw that she was genuinely trying to help even though terror was clear in her eyes.
“Channel your power carefully. Don’t push it down. Just guide it toward the rift. Let it steady the wards.”
She nodded, biting her lip in concentration. Her aura flared again, bright and crackling at first. But as she focused, it began to soften, flowing toward the rift like warm lightning instead of wild sparks. The velvety undercurrent I’d glimpsed earlier threaded through it, helping my shadows seal the edges.
Together, we pushed. My shadows crushed the breach from one side while her aura reinforced the wards from the other. The rift fought for a few more seconds, then snapped shut with a hiss, leaving only a dark scorch mark on the door.
We stood there breathing hard, the air still humming with residual magic.
Isolde looked at her hands, then at me, wonder and disbelief warring on her face. “I didn’t make it worse.”
“You helped, Isolde. I wouldn’t have been able to seal that rift so quickly without you.” My voice was rough with pride I couldn’t hide. “Your power isn’t a curse, Isolde. It’s part of you. And when you stop being afraid of it, it’s beautiful.”
She searched my face, the mate bond humming between us with a warmer edge to it. I saw a flicker of something besides fear in her eyes, what I wanted to believe was the first step to her accepting the bond between us.
I wanted to pull her close and show her exactly how little I feared her power. But the odds were good that it would just erase the little progress I'd made. So I took a careful step back instead, giving her space while my demon protested.
“Do you really believe that?”
“With everything in me.” I fisted my hands at my sides to stop myself from reaching for her. “You just need to get more comfortable with your powers. Learn how to use them, so you won’t worry about taking it too far.”
Her lips pressed together in a slight grimace. “That might help, but it’s not like I can look up succubus lessons online. Even if that were a thing someone advertised, my father would’ve pitched a fit if I’d dared to do something like that.”
“Then it’s a good thing he has no sway over anything that happens at The Abyss.” I flashed her a smug grin. “And there’s a succubus who’s stayed here before who might be willing to help you with those lessons.”
Her eyes narrowed, black swirling in the emerald depths. “A succubus you know well enough to ask for a favor?”
“Actually, Adan is making that call.” I barely held back my grin at her reaction. “And he’s happily mated, so her powers have no impact on him.”
“They don’t?” she gasped.
“I don’t know a lot about succubi, but that’s something I’m sure about.”
Her jealousy was adorable, but her happiness at learning she didn’t need to worry about her allure around my friend made me thank fate for choosing this sweet succubus as my mate.
7
ISOLDE
Helping Kastiel seal the rift in my door gave me a lot to think about. I kept glancing at the scorch mark in amazement. I’d never really thought about the good I could do with my power. Or the upside to learning more about being a succubus.
My father had assumed I would come into my abilities the same way he had, with very little guidance. But when you discovered as a young child that you could make people do things, it left a mark.
